OPTIMUM CLEANING BRUSH PARAMETERS FOR EFFECTIVE DEBRIS REMO VAL ON COMMERCIAL MECHANICAL WILD BLUEBERRY HARVESTERS

摘要

Harvesting is one for the most important operations for farmers and special care to ensure maximum yield recovery and quality is vital for sustainability of the industry. Prior research has been done to improve berry picking efficiency but work to quantify and optimize the debris cleaning brush has been left untouched. The cylindrical debris cleaning brush is positioned on top of the berry harvesting picking reel and continuously rotates to propel debris from the picker teeth. The brush's filamentarybristles (0.24 cm in diameter) are visually adjusted 0.32 cm into the picker teeth prior to harvest. The annealed nylon bristles wear over time and require constant operator adjustment to maintain proper picking performance. To bench mark debris cleaning brush adjustment parameters a survey was distributed to commercial harvester operators and the results were analyzed suggesting 69.2% were operating outside of the manufacturers recommended adjustment range. Misadjusted brushes have the potential to cause increased debris in the harvested fruit and may lead to reduced berry quality. The bristle tip speed was analyzed in relation to common tractor engine speeds (1,200, 1,400 and 1,600 rpm) with results ranging from 6.58 to 13.88 m s"1. Airflow generated in the debris deflection shroud using each brush was analyzed and compared with terminal velocities findings from Esau et al. (2018) with results suggesting only brush 1 is capable of wind velocities high enough to successfully propel the debris away from the picker teeth with bristle tip speeds ranging from 9.15 to 13.88 m s"'.